


Side Effects

by howelleheir



Series: Unfinished Works [12]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Conditioning, M/M, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Sex Pollen, Stockholm Syndrome, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:28:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22158613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howelleheir/pseuds/howelleheir
Summary: Bits and pieces, scraps, scenes, and other unfinished works. Many stop mid-sentence, most never develop a plot. These are all pieces that I started at one point or another and then moved on to another work, another ship, another fandom, or just got too busy to work on anything, so they will likely never be finished, but some of them were fun, and some were even good, so I'm putting them all out there with the disclaimer that they are abandoned WIPs, and unless a particular piece gets a lot of love and re-sparks my interest, I have no intention of coming back to them. Various fandoms and genres, some pieces very porny, some downright objectionable. Tread with care and mind the tags.In this work: Ra's al Ghul heals Bruce from a fight gone wrong. There are unanticipated consequences.
Relationships: Ra's al Ghul/Bruce Wayne
Series: Unfinished Works [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594933
Comments: 1
Kudos: 39





	Side Effects

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh I don't remember any context or plan for this one. It was obviously intended to be during Bruce's early days of Batman-ing, and from context clues, and when it was written, I think it was possibly meant to be loosely a post-Gotham fic ret-conning Ra's al Ghul dying, because iirc I was very horny for Alexander Siddig at the time, and also so pissed that they killed him off that I stopped watching after that.

The mask came off with some difficulty, its fibers sticking into the gash across Bruce's forehead. He stuffed it into a pocket and took an unsteady step onto the wide roof of an abandoned building.

The night had gone badly. He was lucky to have made it up the fire escape from the alley below, where he had found a group of traffickers trying to shove a young woman into the back of their van. He'd bested four of them, but hadn't seen the fifth one's switchblade. While he was blinded by a rush of blood into his eyes, one of the other men had recovered well enough to swing a blunt object -- it felt like a tire iron -- against the back of Bruce's skull.

He had only made it a few steps onto the roof when a pair of hands closed around his shoulders. He tried to duck out of their grip, but he was too sluggish.

“Careful…”

The voice from behind him made his blood run cold. That dangerous lilt, the scent of fire laced with a sharp chemical undertone, the unnatural strength of the hands that held him. And the way he felt -- a hypnotic hum down every nerve whispering,  _ Obey. _

He froze, only just seeing the hole in the roof that Ra’s had caught him in front of. Another step, and he would have fallen through.

“Come with me,” said Ra’s, steering Bruce around the gap and toward an open door and a stairwell into the building.

Bruce tried to break away, tried to say no, but the effects of his conditioning, apparently, had lingered, rendered all the more difficult to resist under heavy fatigue and a head injury. 

It seemed like he only blinked once, and then they were inside what seemed to be an impromptu safe-house. Ra’s lowered him to the edge of a bare mattress and produced an amber vial from his pocket.

A strong metallic odor wafted from it as he removed the cap and poured some of the faintly-glowing substance onto a handkerchief. When he pressed it to the cut on Bruce's forehead, Bruce hissed in pain. He could feel the fibers of his flesh knitting back together. He cried out when Ra's tipped the rest of the vial over the back of his head.

“The effects shouldn't be as extreme as if you were submerged, but you should lie down.”

Bruce didn't argue. He felt strange -- dizziness and a sort of nervous agitation, his breathing shallow and his mind foggy. There was nothing for him to do but let himself fall back, only vaguely aware of Ra's’ hand behind his neck, incredibly warm as it eased him down. As he withdrew, his palm brushed Bruce's cheek, and Bruce whimpered, leaning into it. 

“Well…” Ra's laughed softly, “That’s a reaction I haven't seen before.”

“Shut up,” Bruce snapped through gritted teeth. He felt overheated and anxious, more so when Ra's’ fingers closed tight around his jaw. 

“You're lucky I know what you're going through right now,” he hissed, leaning in close to Bruce's face. “If I thought -- for one moment -- that you were in your right mind…”

He let the threat hang in the air between them, his eyes locked on Bruce's as his hand trailed down to his throat, fingers pressing lightly into the flesh. Bruce hated the whimper he let escape, half fearful and half something else he didn't dare let himself name, something born of his exposure to the waters and Ra's’ intoxicating influence. Everything was a blur -- Ra's said something else, but Bruce's mind refused to process it, overwhelmed by the heat, and he barely felt his own hands move to clench in tight fists around Ra's’ shirt, barely heard the noise of surprise Ra's made when he initiated a clumsy kiss.


End file.
